Buying Dreams

I had a friend who was a catalog addict. Unlike most addicts, she knew she had an addiction and what it was. It was shopping. She worked hard at not ordering catalogs.

Then came the TV Home shopping shows and the internet. A good infomercial, or an intriguing web page, and my friend had packages arriving every day.

This dear friend had closet after closetful of clothes, all expensive, all beautifully made of silk or 100% cotton, and sorted by color, and, within the colors, skirts, pants, tops were all neatly hung together.

Coincidentally, this friend is one of the most generous people on Earth.  There wasn't anything she wouldn't gladly share with you or outright give to you.

Now I too was a collector. I collected from thrift stores. You may remember earlier blogs in which I showed pictures of some of the things I collected -- the hats and purses. I didn't collect these to wear. Just to have. I had walls covered with them. No kidding.

http://www.godwriting.org/godwriting/adios-capelos-adios-hats.htm 

http://www.godwriting.org/godwriting/goodbye-dear-purses-goodbye-decluttering.htm

I also collected seashells, stones, china cups and saucers, lunch boxes, and napkin rings. I had gorgeous napkin rings. Some that were lobsters, other sea creatures, stars, pigs, giraffes, camels -- these were beautiful soft wood beautifully painted napkin rings. The camels were hand-carved unpainted napkin rings.

And I collected books. Cookbooks, spiritual books, fairy tales, poetry, good novels.  Books are love. I don't know what all the other things I collected were in place of.

I remember reading long ago that we really aren't buying the item when we buy. We are buying a dream. We're not really buying make-up. We're buying our dream of beauty.  Even with necessary items like a car, for instance, we're buying more than transportation. We're buying power or popularity. The clothing my friend bought must have fulfilled some kind of dream for her.

I don't know what dream I was buying with all my collections from thrift stores!

I do not watch the shopping channels. Well, I did buy some kind of vegetable chopper once.

The other day my daughter told me about some extraordinary luggage. The wheels never got stuck on this luggage. The luggage came in beautiful colors.  (I preferred the expresso.)  The luggage looked sophisticated There were covers for each piece so the luggage would never get scraped or dirty. The luggage was indestructible and light.

What it came down to, however, were the interior features of this luggage. This luggage was made so practically that you didn't ever have to unpack! One piece of luggage had drawers for everything. Another piece was all hangers. All you had to do was hang the luggage in a closet, and the wrinkles would straighten themselves out.

You may remember my orange luggage that, at my request, my daughter painted colorful designs on it. It was the most beautiful luggage and always drew a lot of attention on my travels and was always easy to instantly pick out on the revolving baggage places at airports.

http://www.godwriting.org/godwriting/carry-on-travel-to-europe.htm  

But now I was thinking of myself as more sophisticated, and I was savoring how I would impress people with this new luggage. I was buying the dream of being sophisticated. I was buying the dream of being an organized person and no longer one who messes up hotel rooms in two minutes. I was going to be a new person with a place for everything, and everything in its place. I was buying the dream of finding everything I had packed and, for once, packing everything I needed! I was buying the dream of being a tall thin businesslike person who was an example of perfection in the world! In my fervor about this luggage, I couldn't even conceive using my childlike orange luggage again.  Never could I. Now I was a grown-up.

Of course, this sophisticated luggage was at a special price for only one day so I had to act fast. I was hunting for a credit card when my daughter found the reviews on this luggage and dashed my whole new self-image.

By far, the reviews were negative. The luggage was heavy, not light. It broke the first time the people had used it. It had a plastic smell. There were maybe a few reviews very far between that said the luggage was okay. The rest of the reviews were ugly, vicious. This luggage was not worth buying.

So I had to give up my dream. It was nice while it lasted. Now I'm once again reconciled to my orange painted luggage. Who would I have been fooling anyway?!!!

What dreams have you bought or almost bought? Did some come true?